BOOK THREE: WAR
Chapter Eight: Irregular Combatants
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Sadly, not every minifig in the BrikWars universe is cut out for
service in the army of a major Civilization. Whether due to
physical, psychological, or philosophical weakness, many
unfortunate individuals are denied the opportunity to take part in
their Civilizations' campaigns of mass destruction. This sad
majority still has its purposes to serve, however. Without the
teeming civilian horde, who would build the war machines? Who
would breed the next generation of Troopers? How would the
military finance its operations, without a large viewing audience
for military engagements on pay-per-view?
8.1 Civilians
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For many Troopers, the blood, gore, and agonizing death their weapons of mass destruction cause among their enemies is only half the fun. To them, the piles of steaming enemy corpses are only appetizers in anticipation of the main course of terror and lifelong trauma that they can cause by staging their battles in the midst of innocent and unsuspecting Civilians.
Civilians come in all styles and flavors, and there are any number of ways to handle them. The Civilians may or may not be allied with one side or another in a given battle. You might decide that they have to be bought with Construction Points, or they might be supplied along with the scenery. They can be controlled by one player or the other, or control can be divided between the players. Civilians aren't usually going to have a whole lot of effect on the outcome of the battle (unless your Champion refuses to fight until he gets some doughnuts, in which case you'd better hope one of the Civilians is a PastryChef). They exist only to add a little light-hearted fun and casual casualties, so there's no real need to stress out over how their initial placement and control are handled. Just go with whatever your personal playing style suggests.
Before the game actually begins, the players must work out whether or not they're going to have Civilians in their game, whether or not they're going to have Normal Buildings and Normal Vehicles and all kinds of other Normal Things like Normal Mailboxes and Normal Fire Hydrants, where and how many of these things are going to be scattered around on the battlefield, and who's going to take care of moving them around. The way we play it, each side only pays for the 'Normal Professional' Civilians and their equipment who are used in the employ of the Civilization (diplomats, spies, systems analysts, college interns, etc.), and all other Civilians are put on the battlefield free as 'scenery'. After both players move their military units and Normal Professionals and fire (and they may fire at the Normal People), both players get half of the remaining Normal People to manipulate into doing normal, mundane activities. This can slow the game down a bit, but if you really get into a silly mood, you can even make them have complete conversations (the best Civilian conversations are the ones that devolve into soap-opera-style melodramas).
Civilians may also form small armies of armed rabble. It's sometimes fun to play out battles in which one or both armies are made up of mostly Civilians, just to watch the Normal People get blasted in a futile attempt to fight off vastly superior forces. Civilians will sometimes be assisted by Troopers with whom they have shared their pizza or nachos.
8.1.1 Normal People
Normal People are the denizens of the BrikWars universe that are not usually involved in war-like activity. Normal People are simply everyday folk who inhabit the buildings and cities where most wars take place.
Classification: Normal Person
(semi-intelligent autonomous target dummy)
Move: 4"
Armor: 1d6-1
Skill: 1d6-2
Specialty: none
Ratio: (troop)
Cost: 2 CP
Most Normal People don't have sense enough to get the hell out of a war zone, and end up stumbling across a street filled with Gyrofire and exploding vehicles on their way to work at the office, barber shop, sporting goods store, or local eatery. However, sometimes Normal People are part of a riot, uprising, or revolt that takes place on a remote planet. Or perhaps the Normal People get really tired of continued Pirate raids, and take it upon themselves to try to fend off the brigands. In these cases, the Normal People take up arms and fight for themselves in their best interests, or so they think. Usually, they just end up getting shot.
Normal People cannot use Death Guns, or any other 'military only' weapons like Missiles and Assault Helicopters. They can figure out how to use sidearms and Close Combat weapons, but don't expect them to be very successful with them.
8.1.2 Abnormal People
Some Normal People are a little screwy and break this standard, becoming obsessed with weapons and killing and death. If they act on this obsession, stockpiling weapons and ammunition and training themselves in the Deadly Arts, they become Somewhat Less Normal or even Abnormal People.
Classification: Abnormal Person
(semi-intelligent autonomous nutcase)
Move: 4"
Armor: 1d6-1
Skill: 1d6
Specialty: none
Ratio: 1 per 10 Normal People
Cost: 3 CP
Every now and then you'll be fighting a battle in some urban area, mowing down stray Normal People as usual, and then suddenly some Psychotik will do something totally unexpected, like blow up a bridge, mow down Troopers in his monster truck, or activate a bunch of MkIII Lasers he's secretly installed all over his house. The most generic Abnormal People have the stats listed above, but crazier types can be assigned other point values depending on exactly how Abnormal they are. Most Abnormal People fall into the category of Mad Bomber, Paranoid Arms Stockpiler, and Suicidal Maniac. Invariably, they come in one of three 'flavors:' the unshaven, blue-collar psycho who's missing a hand, arm, leg, or face; the jet-setting businessman sociopath with his suit, briefcase, and sunglasses; or the homicidal maniac postal worker. There are no restrictions to the kinds of weapons these types of people will find some way to stockpile and use. Better yet, they don't care at all who else gets mowed down in their quest to reach their target.
8.1.3 Normal Belligerent People
While most Normal People spend a battle doing Normal Things, there are some who don't react well to violence. Some even go out of their way to find violence to react badly to.
Classification: Belligerent Person
(semi-intelligent autonomous pain in the butt)
Move: 4"
Armor: 1d6
Skill: 1d6
Specialty: none
Ratio: (troop)
Cost: 3 CP
Usually these are the people who live and work on whatever land you've chosen as your battlefield, who consider it their personal duty to protect their community. In more modern communities (such as SpacePeople or TownPeople), these will be policemen or guardsmen. In more primitive cultures (like MedievalPeople, IslandPeople, or TribalPeople), these will be hunters and warriors. More primitive warriors won't be able to use modern weaponry, but they'll have put more priority on muscle-building and close combat, and will get Close Combat bonuses.
Civilians in Combat
Type Common Civilian Weapons CC Bonus
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Space all -
Town Shotguns, Revolvers -
Renaissance Flintlock (pirate) guns, sabers +1
Medieval Armor, crossbows, horses, swords +1
Tribal bows, spears, horses, knives +2
StoneAge clubs, spears, fire, grunting +2 (+1 Power)
Belligerent People may be groups of Smuggling People defending their hideout with Impact Pistols and jury-rigged MkI Lasers, or it might be a bunch of Islander People throwing spears, or a group of BlackBelt People from the local Brikido Dojo, or a castle full of Aristocratic People with fencing swords, poking your Troopers in their armored bottoms. Unlike the Abnormal People, their primary goal is to keep their communities safe, rather than kill as many Troopers as they can. If you keep clear of their communities, they'll leave you alone. On the other hand, they're pretty weak, so it's not a big deal if you really want to send a squad out to shoot up the town.
The most dangerous Belligerent People are those in the Wolf Rebellion. These political malcontents range from civilly disobedient left-wing activists to heavily armed right-wing militiamen. These disparate groups rally under the banner of the Wolf's Head, and are opposed to the constant warfare and oppression under the rule of their Civilizations. Wherever there is a government presence, these guys are starting riots and strikes, organizing terrorist attacks, raiding supplies, destroying infrastructure, and being extremely inconsiderate in general. If there are any Wolfen Rebels on the battlefield, they'll do everything they can to disrupt your military activities.
8.1.4 Normal Creatures
In addition to native minifig populations, many planets are also swarming with dangerous wildlife. Stats and point costs differ depending on how dangerous the animal is. Remember that a peaceful deep-sea black octopus from Risley IX looks just like a vicious Brain-Sucking Land Blob from Antares III, so feel free to make up new stats and animal abilities for all your creatures at any time. Animals that Civilians ride around on should be treated as One-Piece Vehicles.
Classification: Riding Horse Classification: Draft Horse
(eco-friendly one-man transport) (eco-friendly tow vehicle)
Move: 16" Move: 10"
Armor: 1d10+2 Armor: 1d10+4
Skill: 1d6 Skill: 1d6
Specialty: 2 Power Specialty: 4 Power
Ratio: (troop) Ratio: (troop)
Cost: 3 CP Cost: 3 CP
The most important animal in BrikWars is the Horse. Horses are bred for either riding or pulling loads, but any Horse can be used for either purpose in a pinch. In pre-Town Civilizations (TL3 and earlier), Horses are the primary source of land transportation and Power. A Horse cannot be used to provide electrical Power to energy weapons (obviously), but can be used to provide mechanical Power (for instance, to pull back the arm of a catapult).
8.2 Mercenaries
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Over the chaos of thousands of years of Galactic War, a lot of
things have been lost or forgotten throughout the millions of
inhabited worlds. Among them have been bases, fleets, and
divisions of troops. After a few centuries of abandonment, these
forces forget their Civilization and now their fanatic loyalty
extends only to each other. A Trooper who doesn't fight isn't much
of a Trooper, so rather than battle among themselves, they hire
themselves out to the highest-bidding Civilizations.
Classification: Mercenary Classification: Specialist
(infantry temporary staffing) (multipurpose temporary staffing)
Move: 6" Move: 6"
Armor: 1d6+3 Armor: 1d6+2
Skill: 1d6+2 Skill: 1d6+1
Specialty: Piloting Specialty: Mechanikal Ability
Medikal Training
Technikal Training
Ratio: * Ratio: 1 per 10 Mercs
Cost: 4 CP Cost: 6 CP
Mercenaries place a lot more importance in personal survival than Troopers, since they don't have the resources that let the Civilizations pump out troops mass-production style. The average Mercenary gets a lot more training and personal attention, and more highly-tuned armor and equipment, making a single Mercenary more than a match for a single Trooper, and a single Specialist has all the skills of a Mechanik, Medik, and Technik combined (depending on which Tools he's carrying). That's little consolation, as Troopers outnumber Mercenaries by thousands-to-one in the grand scheme of things. As a result, Mercenaries have to pick their battles carefully.
Mercenaries are great for a Civilization that wants to bring some extra force to a battlefield quickly and cheaply. The Civilization still has to pay full price for the Mercenaries' equipment and vehicles, but hiring their troops is so much cheaper than breeding and training troops of their own, it almost makes you wonder why Civilizations don't just use Mercenaries for all their engagements. Well, besides the fact that there aren't enough Mercenaries to go around, there are a number of restrictions on the way Mercenaries can be used.
First of all, Mercenaries on the battlefield are considered a separate 'team' from the Civilization that employs them. If you have the chance, you should actually have a separate player control them. A Civilization commander cannot spend more than half of its points on Mercenary troops and equipment, and two sides cannot send Mercenaries from the same Mercenary group to fight each other (in fact, Mercenaries are reluctant even to fight Mercenaries from rival Mercenary groups, so you'll want to avoid sending opposing Mercenary groups straight at each other). One regular Mercenary in every Mercenary group is chosen to be TacOps Commander, who has the only CB Radio that can be used to communicate with Civilization commanders if the need should arise for mid-battle renegotiations. Mercenaries don't like to share their section of a battlefield with Civilization Troopers ('Civvies'), and they never 'squad up' with them. Mercenary groups never 'split up' to accomplish multiple objectives; they are hired to accomplish one major objective, and the secondary and other peripheral objectives are the jobs of the Civvies. Mercenary Specialists do not go out of their way and never risk their own lives to give Medikal aid to the Troopers or Mechanikal aid to the vehicles of the Civilization employing them; their skills are primarily reserved for their Mercenary brethren. They may decide to help out if they have nothing better to do and it doesn't expose them to any kind of danger.
Furthermore, while Mercenaries have an obligation to accomplish their mission objectives to maintain their professional reputation, you have to make sure that you give them the support they need to accomplish their objective, because they have no particular loyalty or trust for your Civilization and they're liable to get ticked off if they think they're getting the raw end of a deal. A Reasonable Objective and Adequate Support are standard clauses on every Mercenary contract, and if they decide that you haven't supplied one or the other, they're likely to Ditch you and refuse to give you a refund. On the Mercenaries' sixth turn on the battlefield, they have to have made Reasonable Progress toward their objective, or else they decide that you haven't lived up to your terms of the contract and they will Ditch you. For this reason you may choose to delay the Mercenaries' entrance onto the field of battle until you've cleared the path to the objective and softened up the enemy a bit. While they are still waiting off the edge of the battlefield (and you have to specify which edge they will be entering from before the battle begins), you can negotiate a different objective for them to attempt if it turns out their previous one isn't going to be as easy as you thought. Once they arrive on the field, their objective is set.
One example of an objective might be to take and hold a position, such as a fortification or base. If, on the Mercenaries' sixth turn, they are pinned down by enemy fire and haven't even reached the target position, they have not made Reasonable Progress and will Ditch. If, on their sixth turn, they have eliminated or taken control of most of the defenses at the target position, then they have made Reasonable Progress and will stick around to mop up the remaining defenders and set up a defense perimeter of their own. If, on their sixth turn, they are engaged in battle for control of the position, and it's unclear who has the upper hand, it's harder to say whether or not they have made Reasonable Progress. Their decision to Ditch may be affected by how many casualties they have taken, their chances for eventual success in their current objective, and how well their allied Civilization has supported them. Sometimes they are looking for any excuse to Ditch their current commander because of his reputation for treating his Mercenaries badly, and sometimes they have a tendency to be lenient towards the enemy commander because he has treated them well in the past. Hopefully, a strong case can be made one way or the other; often, it can't. When it's hard to decide whether you've made Reasonable Progress or not, roll 1d6. A roll of 6 means the Mercenaries decide that they have made Reasonable Progress and stick around to complete their objective. A roll of 1 means they Ditch. Any other roll means they keep fighting, and try to decide again next turn.
Even if they have made Reasonable Progress and stuck around for twenty turns or so, they may still decide to Ditch if the tide of battle has turned seriously against them. If their forces are getting ground into hamburger, their allies have abandoned them, and it's obvious there's no way they're going to hold their position, they're going to start looking for avenues of retreat.
A Mercenary group that Ditches does not necessarily abandon their objective or their allies, they just make keeping themselves alive their new priority. This may mean they try to retreat from the battlefield, or they may try to take up a defensible position and try to hold out until one side or the other wins. They may move to take cover in their allies' base (if the allies still trust them after they Ditch), or their TacOps Commander may try to negotiate a truce with the enemy forces. As a Civilization commander, you might want to arrange things so that their best chance for survival when they Ditch is to stick with your team and finish taking their objective, but Mercenaries who are manipulated in this manner are likely to get ticked off and will try to stab you in the back as soon as it is practical, and Mercenary groups hold grudges for a long, long time.
The most significant group of Mercenaries in the Space Age (TL5) are the descendants of a lost division of Kraan BlitzTroopers, who dress in black and white uniforms with big neon-green B's emblazoned on their chests. Lately, however, their preeminence among the Mercenary groups has been challenged by the thrill-seeking X Brigade, who dress in mostly-black uniforms with a red X emblazoned on their chest and back.
8.3 Pirates
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Pirates are not usually a part of an organized Civilization. They are the ruffians of the BrikWars universe. Hailing from ports in every land, Pirates are those people who think only of themselves, motivated by greed and a love of killing and pillaging.
The Pirates
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Cap'n FirstMate Matey Doc Parrot Monkey MateDroid
Move: 10" 8" 6" 6" 12" 7" 7"
Armor: 2d10+1 1d10+1 1d6 1d6 1d6-2 1d6-1 1d6
Skill*: 1d10+4 1d10+2 1d6 1d6 - 1d6-3 1d10
Ratio: 10 2/Cap'n (troop) 8 5 5 7
Points: 21 13 5 7 5 4 6
* All Pirates have a +2 CC Bonus.
Pirates constantly perform raids against Civilization outposts, seeking to steal the vital supplies they need to survive on their own secret bases, hidden in the most bizarre backwaters and wastelands. Some Pirates actually have a great cause towards which they strive, possibly even a noble cause, but most of them just don't want to do any work for themselves so they pillage and steal. None of them are particularly smart.
Often, Troopers will undertake the destruction of a Pirate base, but rarely have any real success. A Pirate base that is brand new is not very different in appearance or utility from the debris of a Pirate base that has been blown to smithereens. If a group of Pirates was off pirating when their base was destroyed, they often don't notice when they get back.
The equipment of Pirates is temperamental to say the least. PirateArmor is different for each Pirate, and the armor that saves a Matey from an Impact Rifle one moment, may fail utterly when hit by a simple fist. PirateArmor is unpredictable, but can actually provide more protection than TrooperArmor, in rare cases. Some Pirates go to battle in only a tank-top!
Close Combat is the Pirates' specialty. It seems as if Pirates were born for fighting at close quarters, and countless bar brawls and pit-fights serve only to hone the skills of the strong, and weed out the weak members of a pirate band. All Pirates get a +2 Close Combat bonus, even if they have no arms, legs, heads, or torsos.
Pirates are just as temperamental as their equipment. Every turn, there is a chance that the Pirate Fleet will Mutiny against their Cap'ns. At the beginning of every movement turn, the Pirate player must roll 1d6. If he rolls a 1, then the fleet revolts against their Cap'n. Whether or not a crew decides to Mutiny has nothing to do with whether they are winning or losing, whether their Cap'ns are heroes or cowards, or whether they are in good moods or bad. The Cap'ns and their FirstMates must then try to regain control of their fleets by making heroic speeches and striking heroic poses. All Cap'ns and FirstMates add their Skill Rolls together. If the number rolled is greater than the number of mutineers, they successfully rally their troops and the turn can proceed as normal.
If the rolls fails, then the opposing player takes control of all Mateys and vehicles and tries to kill the Cap'ns. The Cap'ns and FirstMates may make one Control Roll for every movement phase that they remain alive. If all the Capn's are killed, the Pirates withdraw from the battle, to party down and elect a new Cap'n.
Unless they are sitting around in their PirateBase, Pirates are constantly roving around in PirateFleets. PirateFleets must be highly mobile, so all Pirates must start a battle on board a PirateVehicle - anyone on foot gets left behind. All vehicles in a PirateFleet must be of the same general type. Scurvy SeaPirates must all have Boats and sometimes Submarines; leather-clad HighwayPirates must all drive Ground Vehicles or Treaded Vehicles; SpacePirates all have some kind of Flyer; BikerPirates all have chopped-out DeathHarleys. Anyone who does not drive the same type of vehicle is called a 'Lubber' (sometimes a LandLubber, AirLubber, SeaLubber, or PoliceCruiserLubber) and the Pirates will never trust them.
At TL5 and above, SpacePirate Flyers are highly customized and can use Mk1 - Mk5 weapons, unlike normal Flyers which can only use Mk1 - Mk3 weapons. The limit of 4 weapons per Flyer, however, must be obeyed by Pirates. Pirates can also use Boats as huge antigravity ships, at Boats' standard costs and statistics. There are rumors of enormous Pirate SpaceGalleons roaming the galaxy loaded with SpaceBooty.
Each type of Pirate roughly corresponds to a certain type of Trooper. A Cap'n has all the abilities of a SpaceChampion (including three Stupendous Feats per turn), a FirstMate is roughly equivalent to a SpaceHero (with one Stupendous Feat per turn), a Matey functions as a Trooper or SpaceDriver, a Doc works the same as a Medik (rolling at 1d6 rather than 1d10), a MateDroid works like a Synthetik, and Parrots and Monkeys work like SpaceScouts. (It is unknown how the Parrots and Monkeys relay their targeting information back to the Pirate fleet, since they don't carry CBs, but that doesn't seem to bother any of the Pirates. Monkeys can move vertically just as fast as horizontally, and Parrots can fly over any obstacles. Monkeys can carry a weapon in each of their four hands, so watch out for them!)
A Cap'n is represented on the battlefield by the pirate captain minifig, of course. FirstMates look like Mateys except they get epaulets and a tricorne hat, and generally look handsomer. Mateys just look like whatever they feel like looking like. Docs look like Mateys except they wear only red and white clothes. Docs do not need Medikal equipment, since their standard Medikal procedure is to walk over to fallen Pirates and kick them to see if they wake up. The parts of Parrots and Monkeys are played by parrots and monkeys. PirateDroids are represented by Synthetix whose brains have been replaced with Monkey brains.
8.4 Other People
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The Human Civilizations are not the only inhabitants of the BrikWars universe. Most of the time, the Other People can be safely and anonymously grouped under the Normal People heading and ignored. Sometimes the innocent bystanders are not just Normal People. There are plenty of alien empires, fantastic cultures of elves and dwarves, unaffiliated colonies, rebel outposts, smuggler's dens, and Timmy Hives. These Other People rarely start battles themselves, but sometimes get caught up in larger issues, and often have agendas of their own.
There are all sorts of Other People. New kinds of Other People are always being discovered. The easiest way to create a new humanoid race is to pull off a minifig's head and replace it with a new and unusual piece. Sometimes the new species is somewhat viable (like the Groovy Flower-Headed Peace Children), and sometimes it is just ridiculous (like the Motorcycle-Headed Punk Legion).
Most humanoid Other People are similar to Normal People, except for one or two slight statistical and behavioral differences. Most of them cost 3 points. Examples include:
- the Coneheads, who have normal heads with yellow cone-pieces on
top. Their Skill is 1d6+1, and they tend to flagrant yuppieism.
- the Blokheads, whose heads are the 1x2 Brik with a hole in the
side. Their AV is 6 and they are fanatically bureaucratic.
- the Enormous-Head No-Limb People, who are about the height of
normal minifigs but about 4x4 in width. They move at 3" and have
an AV of 1d6 + 5. They behave like duplicitous children.
- the Large Stumpies, who evolved from the Enormous-Head No-Limb
People, but their heads are not quite so enormous and they have
limbs. They are taller than normal minifigs, and have an AV of
1d6 + 2 and a Skill of 1d6.
- the Teknik Giants, who are very tall and skinny, and whose limbs
are perforated with many 1-dot holes. They are technical geniuses
and run around at 8" per turn.
- the Genetically Defective People, who are the minifigs that
occasionally end up in your PBB collection when your well-meaning
but uninformed aunt buys you PBBs from one of the less worthy
companies. They have -1 to all stats, and act like absolute
dunces. They only cost 1 point, and all normal minifigs are
disgusted by them.
8.4.1 Awful Green Things from Outer Space
One of the most entertaining alien species yet discovered is the race of horrifying amorphic blobs of ghastly ooze known as the Awful Green Things from Outer Space.
Classification: Awful Green Thing from Outer Space
(civilian population control specialist)
Move: 3"
Armor: 1d20-3
Skill: 1d6-1
Specialty: Really Really Scary
Ratio: 3
Cost: 4 CP
These frightening blobs can strike fear into even a hardened SpaceTrooper's heart. They defy all understanding: They don't have any hands to wield weapons. They speak without mouths (though they only seem to repeat sounds they've recently heard). They seem to be able to understand orders, although they have no system of intelligence that is understood by SpaceScience. They can sometimes withstand a blast of a Mk5 missile, and sometimes they die when you step on them. If the die comes up 20 when the Green Thing rolls its AV, not only does it automatically resist the attack, it splits into two identical Green Things! As far as the top ZenoBiologix can explain, "they're just really weird."
Green Things creep slowly across floors, walls, even ceilings, waiting to drop on their prey. When a Green Thing comes in contact with another minifig, it rolls 1d6 per turn. On a 5 or 6, it manages to eat its opponent's head and now has complete control of the body (replace the head with the Green Thing). The host's Skill value becomes 1d6-1, but still moves at the same speed and has the same AV. If the host is killed, the Green Thing dies with it. At any time, the Green Thing can consume the host's body to create another Green Thing.
Green Things are often allowed to feed on captured Normal People. They are also sometimes used in trapdoor pit traps in bases. Although naturally green, a Green Thing can change its color to that of its allied army. A green thing is just a collection of three to five random bricks of the appropriate color. It can stretch itself to unnatural lengths (maximum 5") or contract into a small tentacled ball. It can never suffer knockback or falling damage. Normal People will always attack or run from a Green Thing on sight, regardless of allegiance.